Walter and Dean
As you look back on your life you remember a special handful of people who touched your heart and for whom you've grown to love deeply and admire greatly. To live a successful life is to become a person that someone else remembers and admires.
Today I want to recommend to you the life, work and writings of two dear friends, Walter and Dean Albritton. My wife Paula and I think of them often and look forward to spending eternity in heaven with Walter and Dean telling and listening to funny stories without having to run off to an appointment.
Walter is a United Methodist Minister by profession and was my pastor during some great years during my adulthood. He and Dean still serve the Lord in their church today. They are still a real team for good. They have a wonderful website that is a great compilation of books, writings, stories and other interesting items - http://www.walteralbritton.org/ . Check it out, you will be greatly blessed!
Even in their advancing years, Walter and Dean continue to amaze me with their activity level and their production of good work, like writing. Walter is a journalist as well as a pastor and still writes a weekly column for our local paper. Walter’s homespun writings are easy reads and full of humor, advice and sound theology. His life and writings have become even better, wiser and more full of meaning as the years pass by. As an author, Dean also has her own series of inspirational and humorous books.
Walter and Dean have touched many, many lives in their decades of service to our Lord. They have linked up and made great strides in missions, especially in the nation of Zambia with their sponsorship of the ministry of the Kalembo family.
Walter can also sing. He often shocked his parishioners by breaking out into a beautiful song in the middle of a sermon. I can't remember a minister in my churches ever having that special gift. Dean has more recall of the poetry of the King James Version of scripture than most anyone I ever met. I fondly remember a service where she quoted so many of my favorite passages. It flowed from her heart without referencing a note.
I have been in their home. Walter and Dean have raised wonderful sons and have many grandchildren. They grow beautiful flowers and have a bountiful vegetable garden. They are blessed in great measure. The lives of this wonderful couple are a testimony to hard work, fortitude and working through life’s adversity as they cling to their faith in Christ with rocklike assurance.
True to form, they never lose their sense of humor or fondness for storytelling. You can tell I really love and admire them and want you to get to know their heart also by reading their works from their website. I don’t get to see them very often, so I remember them by reading their work. They don’t know I am devoting this Thought for the Day to them, so here it is: Thank you Walter and Dean.
http://www.walteralbritton.org/